A new study at Cornell analyzed thousands of posts on social media, and figured out eight tips for winning an argument on Facebook.
1. Respond as soon as possible. You’re more likely to change someone’s opinion if you respond to something the day they post it.
2. Get other people to back you up. It makes your opinion seem more legitimate.
3. Stop responding after three or four comments. After that, you’re wasting your time.
4. Link to something that backs you up. And make sure it’s a solid source.
5. Don’t quote them. Like if they say something dumb, resist the urge to copy and paste it in your response to point out what an idiot they are. They’ll just get defensive.
6. Don’t get too intense. Again, you don’t want to put them on defense too much.
7. Don’t make your posts too short. A one-line zinger won’t change their mind.
8. Talk about things they didn’t initially address. Like if they’re voting for Trump because they think he’d be good for the economy, you won’t change their mind. But if you say he’d be bad on something else, they might soften a little.
Just keep THIS in mind. The study also found that 70% of people won’t change their opinion no matter WHAT you say.
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